DM-3200 Daily Shutdown

[Peter Batah]

Hello. For the time being I can only spend a few hours a night seated at my DM-3200. Is it bad practice to shutdown (shift+ctrl+alt) every evening when I am done?

Thank you. Peter

 

[cmaffia]

no

 

[Peter Batah]

Thank you @cmaffia

 

[cmaffia]

I read in the past some keeping it on 24/7 but for a project home studio that's excessive in my opinion and also can run up your electric bill. Heat kills the LCD display anyway so turning it off will give it some longevity before you eventually get the dreaded vertical lines.

 

[skier]

I agree - cmaffia is spot on!

 

[Peter Batah]

@cmaffia The DM packed a pretty good punch feature-wise especially when you consider that it was first launched at least 10 years ago. Almost ahead of its time one might say. A screensaver option would have been a nice touch. Just my two cents of course! Have a wonderful day. Peter

 

[cmaffia]

We've reviewed this topic before. The heat of the LCD and the unit itself is what "unglues" the LCD ribbon. The answer is Tascam should have used a better LCD.

 

[ampsarus]

Not to be contrary, but I disagree with the assertion that continuous heat in the LCD is what leads to eventual failure. Rather, it is my assertion that heat cycling contributes to premature failure, as it does in any electronic device. Repeated expansion and contraction of components is the culprit. That includes all of the semiconductors, passive parts, and the switching power supply. I keep mine on all the time with a UPS and the added benefit is when you are ready to work, it sounds the same from 10 seconds in as it does hours later.

I'm not saying you should keep yours on, it does waste a lot of electricity, but the fact that electronics are wounded by thermal expansion and contraction is not unique to our consoles or audio gear in general.

Best,

 

[cmaffia]

The continuous heat of the unit contributes to drying out of the glue which is used to attach the video cable to the pins on the LCD's PCB. So it's is not an actual malfunction of the LCD itself.

 

[Peter Batah]

Thank you @ampsarus & @cmaffia

 

[skier]

Not to be contrary, but I disagree with the assertion that continuous heat in the LCD is what leads to eventual failure. Rather, it is my assertion that heat cycling contributes to premature failure, as it does in any electronic device. Repeated expansion and contraction of components is the culprit. That includes all of the semiconductors, passive parts, and the switching power supply. I keep mine on all the time with a UPS and the added benefit is when you are ready to work, it sounds the same from 10 seconds in as it does hours later.

I'm not saying you should keep yours on, it does waste a lot of electricity, but the fact that electronics are wounded by thermal expansion and contraction is not unique to our consoles or audio gear in general.

Best,

Heat cycling is an issue, but so is constant heat, and so is electromigration. The fact is, the best way to make a piece of electronic equipment last as long as possible is to never turn it on. Unfortunately, that approach usually results in asking oneself why you bought the piece of equipment in the first place.

Perhaps the most we can do, (other than praying for long-life electronics), is to at least turn off equipment when you're not using it constantly. If you're in your studio just on the weekends, or less, turn the equipment off during the rest of the week. You'll be able to save electricity as well as lengthen the life time of the equipment.

If you use your studio every day, it's not as clear which is better. Cycling hurts semiconductors just as constant heat buildup does, so the solution is less clear.